Direct mail?!?! Get this heresy off my blog!

No, seriously, thanks so much for the comment.

Gimmicks (like paid search) are a great way to generate traffic, but not so much interest. It’s yet another volume play that will come crashing down to earth when it’s over.

That said, they still have a place, it just needs to be focused on the right goals: Relationship-building.

Thanks again for dropping by!

Brad

You can draw tons of response with a gimmick offer: a free Flash drive, iPhone, gold sweepstakes, etc. But you’ll pull a high ratio of spurious noise to qualified leads; in the end, as you analyze conversions to sales, your “successful” lead-gen campaign may actually cost more than a more highly targeted campaign with fewer, but better qualified, responses.

I think something similar is true with social media/content marketing. Sure, you can apply gimmicks that create traffic spikes. But if the new arrivals are not really your audience, what’s the point? You’re better off creating germane content that precisely fits your target market to grow an audience that really gives a damn about what you do.

Let me show you about caption credits for Flickr photos.